Force sensing for fine tracking control of mouse cursor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9851813-B2
Application number	US-23350208-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2008
Priority date	Sep 18, 2008
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods for controlling a navigational object (e.g., a cursor) using an input device are disclosed herein. A system in accordance with one embodiment includes a motion-based input device adapted to move relative to a surface. The input device has one or more force sensors capable of detecting forces acting upon the input device. The system may then move a navigational object displayed on a receiving device in relatively small increments or relatively large increments, depending upon the detected forces acting upon the input device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a motion-based input device having a force detection module operable to measure a lateral force applied to the input device by a user;
a motion detection module operative to determine if the motion-based input device is moving relative to a surface;
a processor coupled to the force detection module, the processor operable to determine a change in magnitude of the measured lateral force by comparing the measured lateral force to a previously measured applied lateral force and generate navigational object movement information based on the change in magnitude when the motion-based input device is stationary with respect to the surface; wherein
the navigational object movement information is generated in a coarse mode only utilizing detected movement of the motion-based input device relative to the surface when the motion detection module determines that the motion-based input device is moving relative to the surface; and
the navigational object movement information is generated in a fine mode only when the motion-based input device is not moving relative to the surface and the magnitude of the measured lateral force is increasing.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operable to generate navigational object movement information based on the detected motion.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the motion detection module is configured to determine a speed of the input device based upon one or more sensed inputs.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a receiving device coupled to the processor, the receiving device operable to receive a signal indicative of the navigational object movement information from the processor.

5. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a display device coupled to the receiving device for displaying a positional change of a navigational object displayed thereon in accordance with the navigational object movement information.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is incorporated in the input device.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is incorporated in a receiving device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the navigational movement information comprises a value representative of an increase in the measured force by a gain factor.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein generating the navigation movement information comprises a predetermined value corresponding to a number of pixels a navigational object is to be moved on a display device.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the force detection module detects the lateral force applied to the input device in a plane in which the detected lateral force is a force that is opposed by a frictional force between the input device and the surface.

11. A method for controlling movement of a navigational object displayed on a user graphical interface, comprising:
measuring a lateral force applied to an input device by a user;
measuring whether the input device is moving relative to a surface utilizing a motion detection module;
determining a change in magnitude of the applied lateral force by comparing the applied lateral force to a previously measured applied lateral force; and
generating a control signal based on the determined change in magnitude of the applied lateral force when the input device is stationary with respect to the surface, the control signal being indicative of a change in position of a navigational object on a graphical display wherein
the control signal is generated in a coarse mode only utilizing detected movement of the input device relative to the surface when the motion detection module determines that the input device is the input device is moving relative to the surface; and
the control signal is generated in a fine mode only when the input device is not moving relative to the surface and the magnitude of the applied lateral force is increasing.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the control signal is based on the detected movement.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein detecting the movement is performed by a one or more of an accelerometer, an optical sensor, a vibration sensor and an electro-mechanical sensor.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving the control signal;
displaying a navigational object at a first location on a user graphical interface; and
moving the navigational object to a second location based on the control signal.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the lateral force applied to the input device is measured in a plane in which the measured lateral force is a force that is opposed by a frictional force between the input device and the surface.

16. A method for controlling movement of a navigational object displayed on a user graphical interface, comprising:
measuring a lateral force applied to an input device by a user;
determining a change in magnitude of the applied lateral force by comparing the applied lateral force to a previously measured applied lateral force;
measuring a motion of the input device relative to a surface utilizing a motion detection module;
determining a positional change of the navigational object based on at least one of the change in magnitude and the measured motion wherein
the positional change is determined in a coarse mode only utilizing detected motion of the input device relative to the surface when the motion detection module determines that the input device is moving relative to the surface; and
the positional change is determined in a fine mode only when the input device is not moving relative to the surface and the magnitude of the applied lateral force is increasing.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising moving the navigational object on the user graphical interface in accordance with the positional change.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the positional change comprises a predetermined number of pixels.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining whether a magnitude of the applied lateral force is increasing, wherein the determining of the positional change is based at least in part on the change in magnitude when the magnitude of the applied lateral force is increasing.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the lateral force applied to the input device is measured in a plane in which the measured lateral force is a force that is opposed by a frictional force between the input device and the surface.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
measuring a lateral force applied to the input device by a user;
determining a change in magnitude of the measured lateral force by comparing the measured lateral force to a previously measured applied lateral force;
detecting a motion of the input device relative to a surface utilizing a motion detection module;
determining a detected lateral force contribution based at least in part on the measured lateral force;
determining a detected motion contribution based at least in part on the detected motion of the input device; and
calculating a change in position of the navigational object based on at least one of the change in magnitude, the detected lateral force contribution, and the detected motion contribution wherein
the change in position is calculated in a coarse mode only utilizing detected movement of the motion-based input device relative to the surface when the motion detection module determines

Assignees

• Amm David T
• Leung Omar S
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Amm David T
• Leung Omar S

Classifications

• G06F3/03543 Primary

  Mice or pucks (G06F3/03541 takes precedence) · CPC title